Kawah Ijen

Author Background: Just enjoying the ride we call life. Class of 2020.

June 30- July 1, 2018

Today we arrived in Banyuangi—a far cry from Jakarta, a crowded city teeming with cars and people and skyscrapers. Banyuangi’s outdoor airport is tiny and seemingly out of place among the large grassy fields and colorful houses lining the streets, but the rural atmosphere is a nice change of pace, a small reprieve from the bustling city-life.

Our main activity in Banyuangi was hiking Ijen Crater, so around 1150 on June 30, our guide Selamat arrived at our hotel in a Trooper 4x4 Jeep to escort us. The drive was full of various twists and turns along a narrow roadway and pitch black save for the car’s headlights. And, in typical Indonesian fashion, he proceeded to accelerate through every bend, with only his flashing brights to alert any approaching vehicles of our presence.

The hike to the top of the crater was surprisingly chilly, although our newly purchased beanies certainly helped. Selamat’s constant chatter and contagious belly laugh kept our minds off the steep inclines, which were surprisingly filled with several groups of people, both native and foreign. True to their tightknit culture, the Indonesians stuck together in tiny groups, and we passed many of them that had paused for breaks on the sides of the trail.

Around 0230 we reached the halfway mark in the hike, at which point Selamat paused in the small shop for a coffee break and snack with his friends. A half hour later, at the top of the crater, we donned our gas masks—a very attractive look for everyone, I must say—and we tentatively made our way down the rocky cliff to the heart of the crater. At one point my tennis shoe slipped on the loose pebbles and I almost skidded off the edge of the cliff; a close call, but I managed to get my footing thanks to Rachel. Compared to the sulfur miners, however, we had it easy—we weren’t trekking up and down the mountain with 60-80 kilograms of sulfur in bamboo baskets on our shoulder.

At the base of the crater the sulfur burned our eyes, but the gas masks certainly helped to alleviate the smell. Blue gaseous flames licked at the sky, portraying a ghastly blue glow behind the plumes of white sulfuric smoke. The edges of the acid lake lapped at the shoreline and was “safe to touch,” although of course I chose to stick my finger with a cut in the water, which then proceeded to burn for the next few minutes. The water was surprisingly warm, however—a stark contrast to the cool air around us. We then climbed back up the rocky incline to where we had started—and then continued to climb even higher.

Around 0500 we reached our final destination and settled in to wait for the sunrise. Red and orange streaks colored the dark blue sky, slowly shedding light on the mountains and crater below us. The sun eventually began its ascent over the Java Sea, bringing our surroundings into focus in all their spectacular glory. The views were absolutely breathtaking, by far the most beautiful hike I have been on. We tried to capture the moment, but the camera simply doesn’t do it justice. At Selamat’s prompting we begrudgingly left the view behind, although the hike back down certainly had its own beautiful scenery that had previously been blanketed in darkness. By the time we reached the bottom of the hike, we had walked a grand total of 10 kilometers and reached an altitude height of 7800 ft—all well worth the aching knees and exhaustion that was starting to creep in.

The hike up Ijen Crater was a very memorable experience, one that I would highly recommend to anyone who has the opportunity to visit Indonesia. Selamat takes people up 3 to 4 times a week, and there are Indonesians with wheel-barrow-like wagons who you can pay to give you a ride, if you are so inclined. Each day in Indonesia has been filled with exciting adventures—and it is only day five! I'm very excited to see what the remainder of our trip throughout Southeast Asia has in store for us!